Meanwhile, during the walk, the one-eyed man told me the things I absolutely must not do here.
“I am the Black-Tortoise Officer of this Martial Star Hall. I’m responsible for the discipline here. The Black-Tortoise Officer’s word is heaven. If you disobey, remember this—punishment can be expulsion, and in severe cases, even immediate execution.”
“Yes.”
“All facilities here can be used freely by anyone, regardless of rank. However, lodging and meals are discriminated by rank. Also, when your rank rises, you can receive spirit pills given by Heavenly Martial Castle. The higher you climb, the better spirit pills you can obtain, so keep that in mind.”
“Yes.”
“Here, we don’t fight with words. If you have complaints, solve them with your fists. But you must not kill the other party.”
I like that.
“Yes.”
“For anything else, read this.”
“Yes.”
The place I arrived at with the instructor was a long hall with many rooms packed tightly together.
“Starting today, this is where you’ll stay.”
Each room had a number written above it, and the room assigned to me was Rank Seven, Room Three.
“This is the place you’ll be living from now on.”
“Yes.”
“Since today is your first day, read that book and take some time to adapt to this place.”
“Yes.”
The Black-Tortoise Officer grinned as he looked at me answering.
His expression was strangely meaningful.
“Have a good first day.”
He left behind words I couldn’t make sense of, waved his hand, and went off.
I didn’t pay it much mind and opened the book.
Inside, the training you could do in Martial Star Hall and the methods of promotion were written out in detail.
I already knew the rough way this place worked, so I didn’t need to read it closely to understand.
What I was curious about was the Seven-Star Ascension Tower.
The urge to go challenge it right now bubbled up hard, but I held it down.
I didn’t come here to get promoted.
I came to see whether Martial Star Hall had problems too.
Even without challenging the Seven-Star Ascension Tower, each of these things was a new experience, so it was fun.
I stepped outside and looked around, and the halls were clustered tightly together, and their condition didn’t look very good.
Rank Seven—the very bottom—was definitely treated poorly.
You’d probably grit your teeth and train, even if only because it felt unfair and humiliating.
Inside the room, a musty sweat stench filled everything, and the cleanliness was awful too.
Looks like they come in, don’t even wash, and sleep.
I hate that.
If I’m going to sleep here, I need to clean this room first.
I muttered while looking at the room.
“Dust swept away, filth severed; turbid transformed into stillness.
Wash the qi, set the form right; clear and bright as at first.”
The moment the incantation ended, a white light flashed from my hand, and black miasma began pouring out of the room.
When the black miasma disappeared, a cool wind rose inside and dragged every speck of dust together, expelling it outside.
The musty smell and the blotched floor changed as if they were brand-new, and even the clothes became clean, like they’d been washed.
I was satisfied with the cleaning when a loud commotion came from outside, and a group of people walked toward where I was standing.
Then they spotted me.
“Huh? Looks like a new guy came in?”
At someone’s remark, the chatter died, and in an instant every gaze locked onto me.
People swept their eyes over me from head to toe.
Their stares were full of hostility.
Why are they looking at me like that?
They looked like they might rush me at any moment.
Only now did I understand why the instructor had smiled and told me to have a good first night.
I let out a snort.
“You’re laughing?”
I slowly stood.
“That’s right. I should sort out the pecking order properly before anything else, huh?”
That way, there won’t be trouble.
I came out so confidently that the Rank Seven trainees looked thrown off instead.
I crooked my finger.
“What are you doing? Hurry and start. Looks like it’s almost meal time.”
Everyone just watched each other and couldn’t bring themselves to jump in first.
I spoke.
“What, you looked like you were about to rush me so bravely at first. Is Rank Seven just a bunch of cowards?”
At the word “cowards,” the trainees gathered there flushed red.
“You fucking bastard!”
“I’m going to kill that bastard and leave Martial Star Hall!”
The trainees all charged at me at once.
My palm slammed into the face of the first trainee to reach me.
SMACK—.
WHOOSH—.
THUD-THUD-THUD—.
That was the start.
SMACK— THUMP— CRUNCH—.
Every trainee who came at me couldn’t endure even a single blow and collapsed.
In an instant, three of them were knocked out, foaming at the mouth.
One left.
“Out of them, you’re the strongest?”
At my words, the one left nodded.
“What are you doing? Not coming?”
Originally, the plan was for the others to wear me down, then for him to come out last and torment me.
But I’d cleaned up the trainees in an instant, and I was looking at him with an absurdly relaxed expression.
“Not coming? Then I’ll go.”
“W-wait!”
He raised his hand urgently, trying to stop me, but I didn’t stop.
If I’m going to use my hands, I have to do it properly so there’s no trouble later.
THUD—.
“GUH—!”
A crackling pain surged up from my abdomen and wrapped around my entire body.
It hurts this much—so why am I not passing out like the others?
SMACK—.
A blow like my face was about to fly off hit from the right.
SMACK—.
This time, the other side.
He couldn’t even pass out. The leader was beaten one-sidedly until dust rose off him.
When his eyes and lips were swollen and his mind was starting to go hazy, I stopped hitting him and whispered into his ear.
“I’m not letting you pass out. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» So don’t cling to pointless hope.”
What are you talking about?
If I get hit a little more, I feel like I’ll lose consciousness.
I wanted to scream at him to hit me more.
But then I murmured something.
“Return the energy to the meridians, calm the soul and soothe the wounds.
Blood cut off, form restored; origin returned and life renewed.”
The moment the murmur ended, white light rose from my fingertips, and a comforting energy wrapped around my whole body like my heart was settling.
The pain vanished, and it felt like my entire body was being purified.
I was savoring that good feeling when my voice came again.
“Alright. Let’s start again.”
Start what again?
When I came to my senses, my body was already completely restored.
Is this a dream?
“It’s not a dream. I healed you. How is it? Nice, right?”
When I smiled, the leader saw a demon.
“Now, we start.”
“W-wait—”
Again, I didn’t stop.
*****
Even though it wasn’t yet the silent hour when everyone fell asleep, my room was quiet.
Inside, every trainee was kneeling in front of me, heads bowed.
“Since it’s fate that we met like this, let’s at least exchange names. You first.”
“I’m the second son of the White-Sun Sect. My name is Yeon Chowoo, and this is my second year here. I entered because I want to become strong here and show my true worth to the family members who look down on me.”
“I’m the eldest of the Radiant-Sun Sect, Gam Taeseong. My second sibling is more capable than me, so my father sent me here to make him the successor. He told me to live as a warrior of Heavenly Martial Castle, not as a Radiant-Sun Sect member.”
“I’m the second son of the Golden Escort Bureau, Hwang Gyeryun. The reason I came here is because I want to become strong.”
“I’m Bang Cheonho of the Spear-Dance Hall. I came to experience it because they say Heavenly Martial Castle is the best under heaven.”
“I’m Woo Seokin of the Natural Mountain Lodge. I’m an illegitimate son, and after my mother—who was at least on my side—passed away, I had nowhere to stay, so I came here.”
After each of them finished introducing themselves, every gaze turned to me at once.
I considered lying, then smiled and spoke.
“I’m Jeok Wigang, the eldest of the True Martial Sect. Like you, Gam Taeseong, my second sibling was more capable and became the successor, and I wandered the world at leisure. Then by chance I heard rumors about Martial Star Hall and came here. The reason I was able to enter this place is because I received a recommendation from Master Smith Cheon of Heavenly Forge.”
“Y-you got a recommendation from Master Smith Cheon?”
“To get a recommendation from that strict man...”
“Is the True Martial Sect a sect famous for blacksmithing?”
They all spoke in shock, but only Woo Seokin stared at me quietly, like he’d realized something.
I smiled at him and said—
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Th-that... what is your relationship with the Lord of the Castle of Heavenly Martial Castle?”
At Woo Seokin’s question, the other trainees’ heads snapped around.
“What are you talking about?”
“Why is the Lord of the Castle coming up here?”
They asked with faces that said, What kind of crazy nonsense is that?
Then—
“He’s my grandfather.”
The heads that had turned toward Woo Seokin turned even faster toward me.
They turned so fast a gust of wind blew through the room.
“Whaaat?”
All of them stared at me with expressions like their eyes might pop out.
“What? Sounds like a lie?”
They nodded.
“It’s true. Well, I don’t live here. But you figured it out, huh?”
“I heard it before. They said the Lord of the Castle had a second son, but he was cast out and settled in the True Martial Sect. And when I saw you using the Jeok family name of the True Martial Sect, I asked just in case.”
“That’s right. My father got cast out by my grandfather.”
“Then... shouldn’t you not come here? He must have it out for you.”
“Have it out for me? I don’t think so. My grandfather probably wants me to become the Lord of the Castle.”
“Huh?”
“I’m pretty strong.”
I said it with a grin, and no one argued.
But that’s only strong by their standards. They still don’t know how strong I really am.
“Anyway. Do you want to move up?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“How much?”
“My goal is Rank Three.”
“My goal is Rank Six.”
“My goal is Rank Four.”
“Rank Four for me too.”
“My goal is Rank Five.”
They were all different.
I let out a snort and said—
“Let’s unify it.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s see. The highest rank you can realistically reach is Rank Three? Fine. Let’s aim for Rank Three.”
“R-Rank Three?”
“Yeah. All of you, Rank Three.”
“That’s not something you can do as easily as you say. I’ve kept challenging, but Rank Six was the best.”
“What? You went up and came back down?”
“That is... I got challenged, but the other guy was strong...”
I nodded.
Their level was low, but I felt good—it didn’t seem as rotten as I’d expected.
If the level is low, you can raise it.
If their skill hasn’t improved until now, it means the training was wrong.
If you didn’t get stronger, you should consider whether the intensity of the training was too weak.
Looking at the people in this room, I made a vow.
I’ll make these bastards the elite of the elite of Heavenly Martial Castle.
“I’m the boss of this room. No complaints, right?”
There was no way anyone had complaints.
“I don’t have that much time. Come here one by one.”
At my words, Gam Taeseong stepped forward first.
“Stay still.”
I placed my hand on Gam Taeseong’s head and murmured an incantation.
“Open the eyes, observe the soul; illuminate the qi, observe the meridians.
Hidden wisdom can be seen; deep nature can be made clear.”
The moment the incantation ended, faint threads of light extended from his body, and I could feel the energy flowing through Gam Taeseong.
At the same time, a cool, refreshing energy I could sense from his body.
The problem was that the flow of internal power wasn’t properly drawing out this energy’s true strength.